Hydrogen isotope separation capability of low temperature mordenite column for gas chromatograph

Kawamura, Yoshinori; Onishi, Yoshihiro*; Okuno, Kenji*; Yamanishi, Toshihiko

A gas chromatograph using a cryogenic separation column is one of the methods for hydrogen isotope analysis. However, use of liquid nitrogen is a cause of long analysis time and is not suitable for easy installation. The development of the column material having separation capability at comparatively high temperature is one of the solutions for these weak points. Mordenite (MOR) is a kind of the synthesis zeolite, and it has been reported that the separation column using MOR has possibility to separate hydrogen isotope mixture at comparatively high temperature. In this work, the separation columns using MOR were made and tested. The peaks of H and D were mostly separated at 144 K, but they were not separated at 195 K. MOR column adjusted in this work was still not for the practical use. However, this result suggests the possibility of the existence of the synthesis zeolite that can separate hydrogen isotope mixture at comparatively high temperature.